American football field dimensions and size are standard across all levels of play, including high school, college, and pros.
Football Field Dimensions
Let’s take a look at some of the critical measurements and distances used on the gridiron. A football field’s dimensions are 360 feet long by 160 feet wide. This includes room for both end zones.
How long is an American football field?
A football field is 100 yards long with two end zones, 10 yards (or 30 feet) deep, on each end. Thus, the total length of a football field measures 120 yards. Yard lines are marked every 5 yards and numbered every 10 yards. Short hash marks indicate one-yard increments on the field.
The entire width of the field is 53 and 1/3 yards.
The 10 yards field number help officials with ball placement and first downs. The 50-yard line is the midway point in the field.
The distance between the two goal lines is 100 yards or 300 feet.
The most significant difference between the professional field and a college or high school field is the distance between the hash marks and the goal post height.
How many meters are a football field? A 100-yard-long playing field equals 91.44 meters.
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How wide is an American football field?
The width of a football field is 53-1/3 yards or 160 feet wide.
So, what is a football field size? A football field size is 100 yards by 53 and 1/3 yards. Two end zones, each 10 yards deep, are positioned at either end of the field.
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What is a high school football field size?
The playing field is 100 yards long by 53-1/3 yards wide.
What is a college football field size?
College football fields are 100 yards long by 53-1/3 yards wide.
What are the NFL football field dimensions?
The playing field is 100 yards long by 53-1/3 yards wide.
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How deep are the end zones?
The depth of each end zone is 10 yards measured from the goal line to the back of the end zone.
How do referees know where to mark the ball?
Referees use the yard lines and the hash lines in order to mark the ball after the completion of each play. There are two central hash marks on a football field.. The distance between the two varies by level of play. If a play ends outside of the hash mark, the referee marks it at the closest hash mark.
Length Between Hash Marks:
The distance between the two sets of hash marks decreases with each higher level of play. The NFL field has the closest hashtags, in line with the width of the goalposts.
In the NFL, hash marks are made on each yard line 70 feet and 9 inches from the sidelines. College and high school fields are marked only 60 feet from each sideline – making them farther apart than in the NFL.
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What are the Boundary Lines Called in Football?
The term sidelines are used to denote the lines along the side of the field. Likewise, end lines are the phrase used for the lines at the end of the field.
High school
The distance between hash marks in high school football is 53 feet 4 inches.
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College
40 feet.
NFL
Eighteen feet, 6 inches.
Why the difference in hashmark lengths? The NFL was trying to increase the offensive firepower in the league. Consequently, the rules committee elected to move hash marks closer together. Learn more about football hash marks here.
How many acres is a football field?
The playing field plus two end zones (120 yards long) of a football field covers just over one acre (1.32 acres).
How many yards is a football field?
The field of play is 100 yards long, with a 10-yard deep end zone on each end.
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How many feet is a football field?
The football playing field is 300 feet long by 160 feet wide.
How many square feet is a football field?
The total area of the football field, including end zones, is 57,600 square feet.
Famous Football Fields
1.) Lambeau Field
Is any American football field more storied than the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field? I don’t think so. The iconic stadium has been hosting Green Bay Packers home games since 1957. The “Ice Bowl” between visiting Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers is perhaps the most noted game ever played here.
2.) Notre Dame Stadium
The home field of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is located in Notre Dame, Indiana. “The House That Rockne Built” went up in 1930. The stadium has sold out Notre Dame home games since 1964. It is also famous for its view of the Touchdown Jesus mural on campus.
3.) Soldier Field
The home field of the Chicago Bears, Soldier Field, is the oldest stadium in the NFL – having opened in 1924. With a capacity of 61,500, it is the smallest stadium in the NFL. In 1968, the stadium hosted the inaugural World Games of the Special Olympics.
4.) Ohio Stadium
Ohio Stadium, the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes, is horseshoe-shaped and regularly wins the best college stadium in the land contests. Seating 103,000 spectators, just the Ohio State vs. Michigan contests would make this stadium legendary.
5.) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The former home of the Los Angeles Rams and the host of Super Bowl I, the Coliseum is full of football memories. Currently, the USC Trojans play at the Coliseum for home games. It will become the first stadium to have hosted three Summer Olympics when it hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Goalpost Dimensions
The uprights in college and professional leagues stand 20 feet tall above a crossbar 18 feet 6 inches wide. The high school crossbar is slightly wider, at 23 feet 4 inches wide.
The total height of the goalpost varies depending on the level of play; goalposts stand 35 feet tall in the NFL, a minimum of 10 yards tall for college, and a minimum of 10 feet high for high school.
What is a gridiron?
The parallel lines marking the yards of a 100-yard playing field resemble a cooking gridiron. The term is usually used to indicate the American football field of play.
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Football Sizes
Different football sizes are used depending on players’ ages. Young athletes use a smaller football to accommodate smaller hands. In high school, college, and the NFL, a full-sized football is used. Here is a list of the exact football measurements used at each level:
Junior Leagues (usually ages 9-12)
Size: 10.5 inches long, 6 inches wide, 18.5 inches in diameter.
Youth Leagues (usually ages 12-14)
Size: 11 inches long, 6.5 inches wide, 19.5 inches in diameter.
High School
The standard high school football size is 11 inches long, 7 inches wide, 21 inches in diameter.
College
Size: 11 inches long, 7 inches wide, 21 inches in diameter.
NFL
Size: 11 inches long, 7 inches wide, 21 inches in diameter.
Length of Football Game – How long does a football game last?
NFL and college games are 60 minutes long and consist of four quarters, 15 minutes each. In high school, the game is 48 minutes in length, with 12-minute quarters.
All football games last much longer in real-time due to play stoppages, team time-outs, halftime, and injury time-outs. In NFL games, the average time from beginning to end is just over 3 hours.
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Football Fun Facts
What is the longest NFL game ever?
The longest game in NFL history was a 1971 AFC divisional playoff game. It lasted 82 minutes and 40 seconds. The game went to two overtime periods before the Miami Dolphins defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27 to 24 with a game-winning kick by Garo Yepremian.
How many football fields are in a mile?
It would take 17.6 football fields placed end-to-end to make one mile.
How many football players play on the field at one time?
Two teams of 11 players each (22 total) play at one time.
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What college teams have ugly colored fields?
The grass or turf of some college fields is colored to match the school’s team colors. Some of the most jarring fields are the bright red turf of Roos Field at Eastern Washington University and the bright blue field at Albertsons Stadium at Boise State University.
Who kicked the longest field goal ever?
The longest NFL field goal ever made is 64 yards by Matt Prater on December 8, 2013. Tom Dempsey set the previous record of 63 yards in 1970.
How many square feet are in a football field?
The entire area of the football field, including end zones, equals 57,600 square feet.
When was the first indoor Super Bowl?
The Louisiana Superdome played host to the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos for Super Bowl XII in 1978 in the first indoor Super Bowl.
What is the biggest football stadium?
In college, Michigan Stadium has the largest capacity stadium. It can hold a crowd of 107,601 people. They call it the “Big House” for a reason!
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum holds the bragging rights for the largest stadium in the NFL. Its capacity is 93,607 people.
I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into football field dimensions.
By Mike O’Halloran
Mike is the founder of Sports Feel Good Stories and a former contributing writer for USA Football, the youth arm of the NFL.
Further Reading
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